


Profile of a Pokemon Champion: Kalos

by Monstradamus



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Friendship, Game Novelization, Gen, Original Pokemon Trainer - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-10-29 02:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17799482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monstradamus/pseuds/Monstradamus
Summary: A novelization of the X & Y games with the MC as trainer. Luke has just moved to Kalos from Unova and is excited to begin his pokemon journey. Partnered with an eager, if not hasty, friend, Froakie, he and his team explore the wonders of the Kalos region, make friends, and so much more.





	1. A Pokemon Partner

**Author's Note:**

> _Hey, so yet again, I’ve decided to branch off into a new fandom. I’ve always been a fan of the Pokemon games since the original Sapphire and Ruby (hint, hint, my first pokemon, a mudkip I named Poseidon, is my favorite). Anyway, I really enjoy the OC trainer stories I come across here in the fandom, so I’d like to try one of my own. I’m starting with the events of Pokemon X and Y because I only got back into the games around that time, and I’ll be continuing with future games since X and Y. That being said, I think I should establish that these will be more game-canon rather than anime-canon, especially when it comes to characters like the rivals and such. Anyway, let’s get on with the show._
> 
> _As always, I own nothing of Pokemon. Nothing I can do about that._
> 
> _Oh, and also, there is a special author’s note at the bottom of this first chapter. So, stay tuned, or just scroll down if you’re bored with the story and check it out._

It was all the thumps and bumps from downstairs that finally woke Luke up that morning. He assumed it was his mother continuing to unpack at the crack of dawn. He rolled over to see sunlight peeking through his window. So, not exactly the crack of dawn, but still, she was at it early.

Luke decided to get up, considering it was late enough in the morning. He found a set of clothes that at least looked clean, and headed downstairs. Sure enough, his mother was finishing all the unpacking they had started yesterday. His family had just moved to Kalos from Unova. He actually liked the big cities in the region, but his mother kept insisting that he would enjoy the fresh open country of Kalos just as well. They had chosen the quaint area of Vaniville Town.

He had to admit they were nice little town houses in the small village, more of a suburb really, at least that is what he would have called it back in Unova. But, Luke had been disappointed to learn that he wasn’t going to get to go on that pokemon journey he had been planning all of last year. He had been preparing all year. He had studied all the gym leaders, the Elite Four, and their pokemon. He knew which pokemon he was going to be looking for on his journey. Now what did he have to look forward to?

According to his mother, one of the local pokemon professors had sent a letter out to the residents of Vaniville Town that he was looking for some young volunteers to help participate in some important studies. Maybe he would get his pokmeon journey after all, except he wouldn’t have the first clue what to expect here in Kalos.

“Morning, Luke,” his mother greeted. “I was just opening the last few boxes after your father left for work.”

“Um yeah, just give me a sec to fix breakfast, and I’ll help,” he said, starting to open one of the cabinets.

“Well, actually,” she began, “there are a couple of girls from down the street just outside. They said something about a professor? That must be about that letter that we got yesterday. I think you’d better go with them to see what it’s all about. Don’t worry. I can finish unpacking here. I’ll put the last box of your stuff up in your room to finish unpacking yourself.”

Luke decided it was best not to keep his neighbors waiting and ended up forgoing breakfast. He tried his best to at least make it look like he hadn’t just rolled out of bed. That wasn’t exactly easy. It had been a while since he had had a haircut. He threw on a hat, grabbed his bag, and headed out the door.

He was surprised to find that the two girls were waiting right outside his door. Luke hadn’t exactly had time to meet any of their other neighbors, so he didn’t recognize them. The younger of the two girls smiled eagerly as he approached. “Oh, hey! You must be the other kid the professor was talking about. I’m Shauna. I live just over there. So, you just moved here, right?”

She talked so fast, some of her words started to blur together. Luke blinked a few times, trying to take it all in before answering. “Um, yeah, we got here a couple days ago from Unova.”

Her eyes widened with that statement. “Unova! Oh, that sounds so cool. I once went on vacation there, but it must be fun living there.”

“Yeah, it was.”

He wasn’t sure how to keep up with someone so energetic. He looked over to the other girl, who appeared to be closer to his own age, who had still not said anything yet. She seemed much more contemplative than her eager friend. She was busy looking at the rhydon snoozing in the front yard. “Wait…was your mother Rhonda Harris, the rhydon racer?” she asks.

“What? Oh, yeah, she was…er, is. That’s part of why we moved. She was getting tired of the same old competition year after year. She wanted a change and decided to try out the Kalos circuit.”

She nodded cheerfully. “That must be exciting, having your mother be a celebrity and all. I’m Serena.”

“Luke. So, uh, did you guys want to…” He gestured at the door, not sure if he was supposed to play host to the two of them.

Serena’s dark eyes light up. “Oh, I’m sorry. We’ve lost track of time. No, Professor Sycamore sent us over to come get you. We’re supposed to meet someone in Aquacorde Town where we’ll get more instructions there. We’d actually better get going.”

She spun on her heels and swiftly began to walk out onto the sidewalk, leading the way. He and Shauna followed close behind.

Luke had to admit that the new neighborhood his family had chosen was nice. While he hadn’t explored all of Kalos, it was a rather well-kept and historic-looking landscape. In fact, he would even go so far to say that it was nicer than some of the cities in Unova. The brick streets were certainly charming in their own way.

“So, you two live around the neighborhood?” he said, feeling stupid for having stated the obvious.

Serena was still moving briskly ahead, her honey-blonde ponytail swaying with each step. “Yes, actually, I live just next door to you. I actually feel bad I haven’t stopped by sooner. My parents are professional pokemon battlers, and they’ve been really busy with some tournaments. I always go to their battles.”

Shauna beamed. “And I live just down the street. I guess there’s not much for me to say about myself. We live in Vaniville Town, but my mom works for an advertising agency in Lumoise City. Have you seen it yet? That city is huge. You’ve just got to check it out.”

“Maybe some other time,” Serena said. “I have a feeling this business with the professor will lead us to some neat places. So, Luke, you haven’t really told us a lot about yourself.”

He shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Uh, kind of like Shauna: not much to tell. I mean, you know my mom is a rhydon racer, but that’s about it. We used to live in Unova, which is where I was planning on having my pokemon journey, but then we moved. I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing now.”

“Surely you have some interests?” she asked.

“Um…not much. I play a little soccer, oh, and I guess my mom says I’ve got a knack for cooking. Nothing big.”

“Oh, look! I think those two kids over there are waiting for us,” Shauna said, point just to the left.

They had only just passed the gates leading into Aquacorde Town. Where Vaniville was more residential, Aquacorde was a tidy little town with a few shops with a few apartments overhead. Right near the entrance was a trendy café, where Luke saw the two boys Shauna was pointing to. One boy was tall and large with an enormous grin on his face. He was waving to the three of them eagerly. The other boy was much smaller and very clearly shy. He only met their gazes when they got close.

“You guys must be the three that Professor Sycamore was talking about, right? I’m Tierno and this is Trevor. Come on, take a seat.”

The smaller boy, Trevor, Tierno had called him gave them a humble smile. “I hope you didn’t have to go to too much trouble to get here. Would you like something to drink before we start?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Luke said, sitting across from Trevor. “So, do you guys know this professor or what?”

“Sort of,” Tierno said. “We’re kind of assistants…interns?” He shrugged. “Something. Point is, we help out whenever we can, and he sent us to help you.”

“See, he’s been doing some new research on something big, a whole new type of evolution!” Trevor said, clearly eager to be a part of this project.

Serena’s curiosity was clearly piqued by this statement. “Really? A new evolution? How does that work?”

Trevor shrugged. “We don’t really know a lot about it, and Professor Sycamore doesn’t know all that much about it either. That’s why he’s looking for young pokemon trainers to help in his research.”

“Okay, so how do we help?” Luke asked.

Tierno was pulling something out of his backpack. “Pretty simple actually. Professor Sycamore wants some volunteers to go to follow a few leads he has on this new evolution. Of course, to do that, you’re going to need a pokemon. After all, we can’t leave you guys hanging on your own.”

He placed a small box on the table and opened it. Three pokeballs sat nestled inside. “So, is this…” Shauna began.

Tierno nodded. “Yup! It’s just like the three pokemon trainers get to choose from before starting a pokemon journey. Actually, this is pretty much a journey, just with a little more work. So, who’s going to pick first?”

The three neighbors looked at each other, wordlessly trying to choose. “Um…it doesn’t really matter to me,” Luke said. “I’m new here. I don’t even know what these three pokemon are.”

“Oh! Well, in that case, I think you should pick first,” Serena said. “This is your first time seeing Kalos pokemon. We shouldn’t take advantage of that. Tierno, can we see them so Luke knows what he can pick from.”

He smiled. “Of course. Okay, so this is chespin.”

He opened the first pokeball and a little green and brown rodent appeared. He looked up at the group of kids, blinking. “Chepin?” he squeaked quietly before sitting down and proceeding to scratch his nose.

“Awww,” Shauna cooed. “He’s adorable.”

Trevor pulled out his Pokedex and turned it on. He held it up to the chespin. “Chespin,” the Pokedex said in its monotone voice, “the spiny nut pokemon. The quills on its head are usually soft. When it flexes them, the points become so hard and sharp that they can pierce rock.”

Chespin turned around and regarded the electronic device Trevor held in front of him with minor interest, but then he went back to grooming his fur.

Tierno continued. “This one is fenniken.” He took the pokeball in the middle of the box and opened it.

A yellow-orange creature with furry ears popped out. She stood proudly before the group before she spotted Trevor’s scone on the table and proceeded to gobble it up. “Hey, that was my breakfast,” he moaned.

“I’ve never seen one in person before,” Serena said breathlessly, watching the pokemon sniffing each of them.

“Fenniken,” the Pokedex interrupted, “the fox pokemon. Eating a twig fills it with energy, and its roomy ears give vent to air hotter than 390 degrees Fahrenheit.”

“And last but not least, we’ve got a froakie.” Tierno took the last ball and let the creature within out.

A small, blue amphibian hopped about on the table. It looked like he had a ring of bubbles around his neck. He seemed the most excited to be out as he jumped about. “Fro! Fro! Froakie!” he croaked taking in all the new surroundings.

“Froakie, the bubble frog pokemon. It secretes flexible bubbles from its chest and back. The bubbles reduce the damage it would otherwise take when attacked.”

“Neat,” Serena said. “So, it’s bubbles work like a pyroar’s mane.”

“A what?” Luke asked.

“It’s another Kalos pokemon,” she answered. “My dad uses one on his team. They’re an evolved form of a litleo. I’ll have to show you while we’re on our travels. They can sometimes be a handful, but they’re worth training if you can catch one.”

“Oh, speaking of Kalos pokemon,” Trevor said, digging for something in his bag. “The professor wanted us to give you these.”

He slid three Pokedexes, just like Tierno’s, to Serena, Shauna, and Luke. Trevor continued. “Since you guys will essentially be going on a pokemon journey, it’s important that you keep track of the different pokemon you see. These will help you do that. But, of course, when you want to send a pokemon over to the professor to watch for you or study, that’s always welcome. I’ve been doing a lot of research myself. I want to see all the different pokemon in Kalos at least once.”

Tierno shrugged. “Trevor’s got a knack for all that Pokedex stuff. He’s like a walking encyclopedia. He probably knows more than the Pokedex most days.”

“What about you?” Shauna asked. “What kind of work do you do for the professor.”

He gave her a huge grin. “I’m all about moves. I mean, pokemon moves are practically like dancing. It’s watching choreography at its best. I like seeing all the different moves pokemon can learn.”

Trevor cleared his throat. “Anyway, we need to get back on target. I believe Luke was going to choose his pokemon first.”

Luke had stayed pretty quiet through the whole series of introductions and instructions. It was a bit overwhelming for him. Yesterday, he was so disappointed that he was going to miss out on going on his pokemon journey in Unova, and now he was about to start one here in Kalos. It was a lot to take in. He slowly pocketed the Pokedex, and then looked at the three pokemon who were still exploring their new surroundings.

Chespin was cute, and certainly well-behaved. He could be pretty easy to train. Fenniken was cool, and looked like she could pack a punch. Fire-types were good for that, he knew. Froakie, though, looked eager to get out and explore. He had a certain drive about him.

“I think I’m going to go with froakie,” Luke said.

“Fro?” the little frog pokemon croaked, cocking his head and looking at Luke with curiosity. 

For several minutes, he just looked at the young trainer, as if judging him. Eventually, he seemed to like the idea, hopped up onto Luke’s shoulder, and nuzzled against his cheek. “Froakie,” he said.

Tierno handed him the pokeball. “Good, he likes you. That’s always the best for a new trainer. You gonna give him a nickname or anything?”

He shrugged. “Nah, I don’t think so, at least not right now. I barely know him, and Froakie sounds like a good name anyway.”

“Okay then, who’s next?”

Serena nodded to Shauna. “You go next,” she said. “I can’t really decide myself.”

Shauna seemed pleased with this idea because she had been eagerly looking at one particular pokemon. “Yay! Well, I’m definitely going with this fenniken. Hello, cutie!”

“Fenniken!” the fox pokemon barked before scampering over to her lap.

Serena nodded towared the chespin. “Hello, Chespin. It’s very nice to meet you.”

He nodded back quietly and scooted closer to her.

Tierno seemed please with the results. “Well, it looks like everything’s settled. I’m also going to give you guys these letters to let your folks know where you’ll be for the next few weeks. Once you have everything settled, Trevor and I will meet you just outside of Santalune Forest. See you then!”

Trevor and Tierno got up and started to leave. Shauna, Serena, and Luke stayed for a little while longer getting to know their pokemon. Luke’s froakie was a ball of energy and could hardly stay in one place for very long. He was already off of Luke’s shoulder and hopping around the ground, exploring everything.

“We really should head back home,” Luke said. “We at least need to pack our stuff if we’re going to be travelling.”

The girls agreed, and the group started to head back to Vaniville Town. “Wait!” Shauna said before they left the café.

Luke and Serena turned around. “Why don’t we try one quick practice battle before we go? I really want to see what my fenniken can do.”

Luke looked back at Serena. She shrugged. “Up to you if you want to. I really need to get back home and get my letter to my parents. They’re about to leave on another battling tour later today and I want to say goodbye.”

Serena looked eagerly at Luke. “Please?”

“Froakie! Froakie!” his pokemon pleaded as well.

“Alright, well, Froakie seems game. Let’s do it!”

“Hooray! Okay, Fenniken, let’s go. Use your ember attack.”

Fenniken spat a small burst of flames at Froakie. It struck, but it did not seem to hurt all that much. In fact, it almost looked like it turned to steam just when it struck. Luke smiled. His pokemon was already proving tough.

“Froakie, use pound.”

Before Luke could even get the whole sentence out of his mouth, Froakie was halfway to a running start, heading for Fenniken. With a sure and quick strike, he took a rapid hit at her. She was knocked back a few feet, but otherwise, she was fine.

Shauna’s eyes widened. “Wow, he’s really fast. Okay, Fenniken, use tackle.”

Fenniken ran and throttled Froakie to the ground. This took Froakie by surprise and knocked the wind out of him. He grunted in frustration before pushing Fenniken off. This seemed to light a fire under him, and made him even more eager to fight.

“Nice one,” Luke said. “Froakie, use pound again.”

“Fro!” He leaped at Fenniken and struck her before leaping back out of the way.

“Ember attack!” Shauna called.

“Fenniken!” she barked, spitting more fire at Froakie.

This time, her attack hit, and though it was not particularly strong, it did singe Froakie’s blue skin. He glared back at Fenniken.

Luke smiled. He had been saving his ace in the hole. “Alright, Froakie, let’s finish this. Use your bubble attack.”

Froakie took a deep breath and blew a series of bubbles at Fenniken. When they burst, they hit her with little droplets of water. With a weak cry, Fenniken laid down, unable to battle.

“Aw, I thought I was close,” Shauna said, letting Fenniken rest in her pokeball.

Froakie hopped back over to Luke’s feet. “Well, I did have type advantage over you. Water beats fire. But, with a little training, I’m sure Fenniken will be a challenge for any trainer. Good match!”

“Fro!” Froakie agreed.

“I’m glad. It was kinda fun, even if I lost. Let’s catch up with Serena in Vaniville. We’ll meet up later.”

“Sounds good. See you later, Shauna.”

He waved as she ran down the street. Froakie started tugging on Luke’s pant leg. “Froakie?”

“Sorry, pal. We’ll battle other trainers later. We need to head home. You can meet my mom, and we’ll get all our stuff ready to go out.”

The blue frog pokemon pouted. “Fro…”

“You’ll like my mom. Come on.”

Luke led the way back home. He was a mix of emotions right now. He was thrilled that he was finally going to get to go on his pokemon journey like he always wanted. Though, he was not sure what he would find on his trip. This was a whole new world to him, and he had no idea what to expect. But, he did have some confidence that his new pokemon pal, Froakie, would make this a lot easier.


	2. The Littlest Fletchling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> En route to meet his friends at Santalune Forest, Luke gets a chance to see some of the new pokemon of the Kalos region.

“Well, he certainly is adorable,” Rhonda said as she watched Luke’s new pokemon meeting her rhyhorn for the first time.

Froakie was still indecisive about the larger creature in front of it. He poked at its nose a couple of times, but stopped when it snorted in frustration. He backed off after that and scurried into the house.

“It’s more like he’s really curious and a little impulsive,” Luke said, keeping an eye on Froakie as he began exploring the house at a rapid speed.

His mother smiled and ruffled his hair. “Good, means you’ll learn what it’s like.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m just saying he’s a really good fit for you. So, did this Professor Sycamore tell you what this whole business was about?”

Luke started grabbing a pack and began filling it with the necessities. “Not really. I didn’t even meet him. It’s something about some new research and we’re supposed to follow up on some leads he has. The interns he sent this morning are supposed to meet us and help us get to Lumoise City to officially get some instructions.”

He struggled to close the latch on his bag, yet he could not shake the feeling that he did not pack enough. Of course, he was missing some important things that he knew his pokemon would need, but he hoped he would be able to make a few stops to take care of that.

“So…you’re okay with this?” he asked.

She gave him a warm embrace. “Well, it’s not ideal, but every kid goes on a pokemon journey at some point. If I hadn’t gone on mine, I wouldn’t have found my rhyhorn, or my calling as a racer. And…I wouldn’t have met your father either.”

Luke’s face started to turn a light shade of pink. “Mom…come on, that old story is embarrassing.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You’ll understand someday. Now, while I am okay with this, I do want you to call me every night to at least let me know where you are. That Pokedex of yours has a Holo Caster, so there’s no excuse for you not to.”

“Okay, okay, I promise,” he said, gathering up his things and putting his backpack on. He stopped, and tried again. “I will, and thanks for being cool with this. I’ll talk to you and dad when I get to a stop tonight.”

Froakie could already sense his partner starting to leave. He hopped over towards the door, croaking in excitement, and jumping up and down impatiently.

Rhonda laughed. “Sounds like your froakie is ready to go. You have fun.”

He started heading out the door. “Okay, bye mom!”

Luke was surprised that he did not see either Serena or Shauna outside waiting. He was under the impression that they were going to be starting their journeys together. Then again, maybe they had just gone a little ways out. They could not be far, he reasoned.

He decided that he also wanted to go back to Aquacorde Town and go to some of the shops there. Now that he was a pokemon trainer, he was going to need some supplies to help take care of his pokemon. Just past the café, he saw a couple of stores that he thought would help him out. He made sure to get a few potions before he left. He did not exactly have a large amount of pocket money, but some was better than none. Froakie was not too thrilled with this little detour.

“Froakie,” he groaned, crossing his arms, and tapping his foot.

Luke rolled his eyes. “Look, I know it’s not fun, but this is stuff we need. You don’t want to be hurt without some potions, do you?”

“Fro…”

Luke knew it was going to take some getting used to being a trainer. He knew that Froakie was a little bit of a free spirit, and they were going to have to set some boundaries if they were going to work well together. But, in truth, he was not sure where to start. He never had younger siblings growing up, and he had never even dared tried his hand at babysitting. He had no idea how to be firm but fair.

“Anyway…” Luke began, “we can get going now. Hopefully, we’ll catch up to the girls soon.”

Just up ahead was Avance Trail. Luke realized that after this point, they were essentially going out into the wild. True, from some of the stuff he had read right after he got home from getting his pokemon, Kalos was not exactly wild-wild, not like regions like Hoenn or Kanto in certain places. But, it was going to be a place where he and Froakie would have to rely on each other from here on out to make it.

He looked to Froakie, who was already eyeing the wilderness beyond with a determined expression. Well, confidence was key, he thought. He just hoped Froakie did not have too much confidence that it would hurt them in the long-run.

They had not gone more than a mile before they saw Serena and Shauna just up ahead. I appeared that they were engaged in a friendly pokemon battle. Serena was using this as an opportunity to help teach Shauna some of the finer points of battling.

“Okay, Fenniken tackle him.”

“Fenni, fenni, fenniken!” the little fox grunted as it ran faster and faster, colliding with its target and knocking Serena’s chespin to the ground.

The rodent struggled and squirmed. “Chepin!” he squealed before pushing the fenniken off of him.

“Very good,” Serena said. “See, type advantage isn’t everything. You have to play to your pokemon’s strengths. Fenniken is really strong-willed and will jump at the chance to impress you. Make sure she knows you appreciate that, and she’ll be an excellent battle partner. Oh, hey Luke!”

He waved and jogged over to catch up to them. “Hey, what are you two up to?”

“Don’t worry, we weren’t getting a head start on you. I just wanted to show Shauna a few things about battling and how to catch pokemon.”

Shauna nodded. “I haven’t really had the chance to learn all that much about pokemon, but I thought Serena would know a lot since her parents are amazing trainers and all.”

“Anyway,” Serena finished, “we came out here so she could see some wild pokemon and maybe catch a few on her own. After all, I’m sure Professor Sycamore is going to want us to help him study different pokemon.”

“Makes sense,” Luke said with a shrug. “You guys find anything?”

Shauna’s eyes lit up and she began speaking with such enthusiasm and gesturing that it was hard for anyone to keep up. “It’s amazing out here. We’ve seen all kinds of pokemon. There’s these cute little green bug pokemon with big eyes, all kinds of little critter pokemon, and well, I don’t really like all the birds. They’re kind of aggressive, but they’re still cool looking.”

Serena laughed. “We haven’t really caught any, though. I did catch one little bunnelby, but that was to show Shauna how to do it. It’s cute, and I might train it, but I’m not sure yet. You do know how to catch pokemon, don’t you, Luke?”

He shoved his hands in his pocket and scoffed. “Yeah, of course. I mean, I was studying to take a journey back in Unova.”

In truth, he really was not so sure. He had done some studying, that much was true, but he did not really get the opportunity to try some of this out on his own, meaning he knew how in principle, but not in practice. Still, he was trying to impress his new friends, especially Serena. She seemed like such a knowledgeable trainer, he was embarrassed to admit otherwise.

“Good to hear,” she said, appearing to not notice his lie. “But, since I did this for Shauna, it is only fair.”

She handed him a handful of pokeballs. That caught him by surprise. He knew that Serena was nice, but this was overly generous, he thought. “I…uh…you didn’t have to…um, thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. There are tons extras lying around my house. Some days I find a few in the strangest places while doing chores.”

Shauna was already starting to run ahead, eager to see even more pokemon in the wild. Serena shook her head. “I’m going to catch up to her. Santalune Forest is just ahead anyway. You comin’?”

He was still a little stunned with her generous gift. “Yeah, in a minute,” he said, looking up quickly. “I wanted to take a look at some of these pokemon myself. I’m not sure what to expect here in Kalos.”

She nodded. “Fair point. We’ll meet up just up ahead?”

“Sure.”

He waited until she was a little distance away and sighed. Honestly, he did not want the two girls to see him fail miserably at catching pokemon or just trying to make it through the trail without incident on his own. But, he was still hoping to do a little training with Froakie.

“Alright, you ready, buddy?” he said, looking down at his pokemon.

“Frokie!”

“Perfect! I think we’re going to practice a little. No offense, but I don’t want to make myself look like a total doofus out there.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fro…”

Luke shrugged. “What? Look, let’s just go.”

For a while, Luke let Froakie explore around the trail, enjoying watching the frog pokemon stretch his legs. Meanwhile, Luke took a seat on a nearby stone. The two of them had gotten a pretty early start of it.

“I don’t know how you can be this excited this early,” Luke said.

Froakie did not seem to listen. “Fro! Fro! Fro!” He continued to hop along in the grass, not a care in the world, that is until he hopped on a pidgey, spooking it.

The pidgey squawked and clearly looked angry. Luke stood up, not sure if he was going to fight back or run away. Had he read somewhere that pidgeys could be territorial? Froakie hopped over towards him, waiting for his trainer’s decision.

It looked like they were not going to get a choice in the matter. The pidgey was already making a flying pass at Froakie.

“Uh…Froakie, use bubble,” Luke said, finally coming to his senses.

The stream of bubbles actually proved useful. As they popped in the pidgey’s eyes, it stung and distracted the bird pokemon. It flew up to avoid anymore of Froakie’s attack. It fluttered up above, contemplating its next move.

“Get ready to dodge.”

The pidgey’s eyes narrowed and it swooped down once more, taking careful aim at Froakie. Froakie bounded across the ground, trying to stay out of the pidgey’s range. But it was too fast and struck Froakie, the two of them tumbling on the ground for several seconds before the pidgey pinned him to the ground.

This was very clearly not going as well as Luke had hoped. “We gotta get out of here. Froakie, use bubble again.”

Froakie was more than okay with blowing a heavy stream of bubbles into the pidgey’s eyes. It cried out and fell off of him, giving Froakie the opportunity to run away. He hopped ahead of Luke, who was using his body as a shield in case the pidgey gave chase. When they felt they were a good distance away, they stopped to catch their breath.

“Okay, so maybe not the smartest idea,” Luke said. “You okay, buddy?”

“Fro…” he said between wheezing breaths.

“Fletchling!” they both heard in a high-pitched chirp.

“What was that?” Luke asked.

Froakie shrugged his shoulders.

“Fletchling!” They heard the call again and began looking everywhere for the source of the noise.

A little tuft of red feathers poked out of the grass, and two beady eyes regarded them with curiosity. It jumped a few feet closer to them. “Fletchling!” it chirped again.

“Um…okay.” Luke pulled out his pokedex.

“Fletchling, the tiny robin pokemon,” it read. “These friendly Pokémon send signals to one another with beautiful chirps and tail-feather movements.”

Its tail twitched at those words. Luke stood still, not sure what to do. He did not want this to end up like the encounter with the pidgey, but he also did not want to scare the fletchling away. “Hey, little guy,” he said slowly. “What are you doing out here?”

It tilted its head in confusion at him.

“Right, dumb question. I mean, it’s the wild. But, I’ve seen bunches of you guys flying around out by my house before. Don’t you hang out in groups? Where’s your family?”

It hopped and turned this way and that, as if searching for itself. “Fletchling…” it chirped sadly, looking up at the trees above.

“Oh, did you fall out of your nest? Well, you’re just a little guy aren’t you? Maybe we can help you find it.”

“Fletchling! Fletchling!” it peeped in excitement, bouncing up and down.

Luke held out his hand, and the bird pokemon alighted on it. “Alright, well, it can’t be too far. Your home’s probably up in one of these trees. Froakie, can you climb up and look around?”

He was already halfway up a tree before Luke could finish. For a couple of hours, the two scoured the few trees found along the trail, searching for any signs of a nest or the little fletchling’s family. But, so far, they were coming up empty-handed.

“I wonder if fletchlings migrate?” Luke asked, more to himself. “I haven’t seen anything that shows any signs of them being here.

“Fro…” Froakie sighed, also feeling disheartened with their lack of results.

“Look, how about we stop for a little lunch and then we can try searching again? It can’t be too much farther.”

They found a nearby log to sit on, and Luke broke out some food for his two traveling companions. The little fletchling seemed content to be with the two of them. In the meantime, Luke tried to look around their surroundings, trying to find any signs of the fletchling’s nest. He sighed, spotting nothing.

He watched the fletchling play with Froakie. Well, at least he was not worried about being far away from home. He also wondered if Shauna and Serena were worried about his whereabouts. After all, he had been sidetracked for a few hours when he had promised he would catch up to them in only a few minutes.

Lost in his thoughts, he did not hear the loud chirping noises at first. But after several seconds, it got louder, and Luke was sure there was more than one source to the noise. He turned around and spotted at least half a dozen larger fletchlings all huddled in front of Froakie and the fletchling he had found. At first, Luke thought this might be their little buddy’s family, but judging from the hostile look in their eyes, he realized that was not the case.

The little fletchling hopped out in front of Froakie and tried communicating to the horde of birds. Even if they were not family, Luke figured he at least knew them. Despite the fletchling’s emphatic pleas, the group did not seem like they were going to let the group pass by in peace. The biggest of the group started pecking the top of the fletchling’s head until it cried out in pain and flew behind Froakie.

Now it was starting to make sense. The little guy was bullied by the other fletchlings because he was so small. He probably had not even fallen out of his nest but was chased out by them. Luke was never one to usually get too involved in these kinds of confrontations, but he was not going to let this kind of unfairness go on. “You leave him alone!” Luke called out, trying to distract the chattering birds before they hurt the little fletchling anymore.

The big one turned and glared at him, prompting the others to take an offensive stance. He had to do something quick. “Froakie, use your bubble attack!”

This seemed to fire up his pokemon, who spit a steady stream of bubbles at the group of fletchlings. The watery bubbles did minimal damage, but they did the job: they distracted the birds to direct all their focus on Froakie.

The fletchlings took to the sky and in a steady stream of one right after the other tried to tackle Froakie. He was able to roll out of the way to dodge some of the attacks, but others hit and knocked him off his feet. Froakie tried to dive low towards the grass to avoid being seen by them and to hopefully provide a brief cease-fire while they looked for him.

“Okay, Froakie, use…”

He did not get the chance to even finish. Froakie’s drive to fight back and go his own path led him to go after the fletchling’s one by one. He started pounding each of them as they swooped down after him. He knocked two or three out of the sky. It took a few more hits for him to get the last few. The only one remaining was the large leader of the group, and Froakie was looking pretty winded.

Luke tried to keep his pokemon partner’s spirits up. “We can do this, Froakie! We can finish him off with your bubble attack.”

In the meantime, the little fletchling peeked out from his hiding spot to watch the battle. His eyes twinkled as he saw the ferocity which Froakie fought with.

The big fletchling puffed out its chest and chirped loudly, taunting the froakie to come at them. Froakie was about to blow a jet of bubbles when the little fletchling whipped out of the grass and struck the larger fletchling with a forceful tackle, knocking it to the ground. He chirped and growled with all his might, telling his former enemies to leave his new friends alone.

The larger fletchling glared, but impressed by the little pokemon’s pluck, it backed off, flitting away to find something better to do with its time.

“Wow, you did it!” Luke exclaimed. “Thanks, little guy, you really got us out of a big jam. Right, Froakie?”

The blue frog nodded vigorously. “Fro!”

The little fletchling hopped closer to them and chirped pleasantly.

“Wait…do you…want to come with us? You want to go with me?”

“Fletchling!”

“But, what about your home?” Luke asked.

The little bird turned around, looking back at the little meadow behind them, and then turned back to Luke. “Fletchling!”

Luke searched in his backpack, pulling out a pokeball. “Well, I can’t say no to that. You really are a tough little guy.”

Gently tossing the pokeball at the fletchling, it popped in, shaking for only a few seconds before it glowed, the pokemon having been caught.

“Alright!” Luke said, jumping victoriously. “I caught a pokemon on my own.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you to everyone who read this story. It means the world to me. So, Luke’s journey will continue soon in the next installment. I kind of enjoyed writing this one because I wanted to find a cool way to incorporate the Horde mechanic of the game._
> 
> _Anyway, as I continue designing my own region, I thought I’d keep sharing some sneak peeks with you. I’m still looking for people who would like to help me work out some of the finer details like moves and such. Send me a PM on FFnet if you’re interested, and your efforts will be rewarded, I promise. But, while we’re waiting, I thought I’d introduce you to the rivals that will exist in the new region. Say hello to Paris and Helen! Of course, if you read my author’s notes at the end of the last chapter, you’ll know that these two play big roles in the main story of this region, but let’s get to know their personality. I’m not going to reveal all my secrets after all._
> 
> _Paris is a quiet but thoughtful boy who is absolutely fascinated with pokemon and everything about them. He desires to one day grow up and become a pokemon professor himself. In the meantime, he enjoys playing with and studying all the pokemon he can find. He may be shy, but he will stand up for the things he believes in. He chooses the pokemon weakest to the player’s starter._
> 
> _Helen is a determined and passionate young lass. She can sometimes seem rough around the edges, but she does have a good heart. She just wants people to see her for her strength and heart as a pokemon trainer, and therefore always wants people to give her their best. She’s tired of being treated like a little girl by her family and ran away to go on her own journey. She chooses the pokemon strongest to the player’s starter._
> 
> _Well, that’s it for now. Hope to see you in the next chapter!_


	3. A Journey with Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After having captured his first pokemon, Luke continues on his journey. He decides to improve his battling skills and catches up with his friends.

Luke seemed to walk with a new spring in his step, having caught his first pokemon on his own. True, he felt bad that he had kept Shauna and Serena waiting so long, but it had paid off, he thought. He was excited with the prospect of his new fletchling. He was already looking up more information about it in his Pokedex.

“Hm, so it looks like our new friend evolves into something called a talonflame eventually,” he said to himself, “which makes it a flying and a fire-type. That’ll be helpful. What do you think, Froakie?”

Froakie puffed out his chest. “Fro!” he said adamantly.

Luke laughed. “Dude, you’re my number one, always. But, if we’re going to beat gym leaders, we’re going to need a varied team. So, having a fletchling on our team is going to help fill in some gaps.”

Froakie rolled his eyes, but relented.

Just up ahead, the two of them saw something rustling in the taller grass, just off the trail. Both teammates got excited. “Alright, looks like we might get to catch another pokemon. Get ready, Froakie!”

He crouched down, ready to pounce. But before Luke could give the command, he jumped at the rustling grass. “Yeowch!” a voice yelped.

“Huh?” Luke was confused because that sure did not sound like any kind of pokemon cry he had heard before.

A boy, just a little younger than him jumped up, making a beeline out of the grass, hiding behind Luke. “What was that?”

Froakie popped his head up with a confused look on his face. “Frokie?”

“Um, sorry about that,” Luke said. “I thought you were a pokemon. I might have sent my froakie on you.”

The boy laughed, shaking his head, his scruffy brown hair waving back and forth. “That’s okay. It must’ve looked like that. This brush out here gets so overgrown. Someone could get lost out there. I’m Austin.”

“Luke. So, what were you doing out there? Looking for pokemon?”

Austin shook his head. “Nah, I’ve done all the looking I wanted to do around here. I just dropped one of my potions, and Ziggy and I were trying to find it.”

“Ziggy?”

“Zig!” A brown fuzzy head popped up just ahead of Froakie.

“Oh, that’s a zigzagoon,” Luke said, vaguely recognizing the creature. “Hah, I get the nickname now. Do you need a hand finding your stuff?”

Froakie held up a purple bottle and came out of the grass. “Or, uh, never mind, I guess Froakie found it for you.”

“Hey, thanks! So, wow, you must be a trainer too, yeah?”

“Yeah, I was just on my way to the forest to meet my friends. We’re kind of going on a journey together.”

Austin started packing his dropped items in his bag. “That’s good. But, hey, you can’t leave without a pokemon battle, right? C’mon, I haven’t seen too many trainers today, and Ziggy and I need practice.”

Luke smiled. This was the perfect opportunity to give his little fletchling some practice. His new teammate was still fresh and needed a chance to show what he could do. “Sure, you’re on! Okay, go Fletchling!”

His newest pokemon partner popped out of the pokeball. “Fletch!” he chirped, taking a fighting stance.

Austin was ready for a good battle too. “Nice! Okay, Ziggy, let’s do it!”

The zigzagoon planted his feet, ready for a full-on attack. He growled lowly, showing some of his sharper teeth. He certainly struck an intimidating figure.

Fletchling seemed to lose some of his bravado. The zigzagoon was much bigger than him, and he looked pretty tough. Plus, fletchlings tried to avoid these pokemon more often than not. They were aggressive and would fight for territory. Fletchling looked back to Luke, a little unsure of himself.

“Don’t worry, Fletchling. You’ve got this. Start with a tackle attack.”

Still a little nervous, Fletchling tried to trust in his trainer and made a dash at Ziggy. The zigzagoon still kept its firm stance, bracing for the attack. He glared at the little bird. Fletchling still followed through on his attack and struck Ziggy. He was unable to knock him off his feet, but he did at least hit hard enough to elicit a grunt of frustration from the zigzagoon. Fletchling quickly backtracked after attacking.

“Not bad,” Austin said. “Okay, Ziggy, now you tackle back.”

The zigzagoon took a running start at Fletchling. The little bird hopped back and forth, unable to decide what to do.

“Try and avoid it, Fletchling!” Luke called.

Eventually, Fletchling opted to go right. However, the zigzagoon also leaned its run a little to the right. He made contact with Fletchling, knocking him down. Fletchling rolled over a couple of times, feeling a little dizzy after the attack. It looked like he had taken a pretty hard hit.

“You okay, Fletchling?” Luke said, worried it may have been a little too soon to let him battle.

He hopped back up onto his feet, nodding. In truth, he still felt a little unsteady, but he wanted to prove himself, and he was not about to let this zigzagoon best him.

“Okay…” Luke said, still unsure. “Try another tackle.”

Fletchling picked up even more speed, trying to hit the sturdier pokemon even harder. Ziggy was not one to run away. He also took a running start at Fletchling, hoping to hit him head on and block his tackle. The two made contact in the middle of Fletchling’s route. Sure enough, the hit knocked Fletchling back, but it had done some damage to Ziggy, who looked a little shaken after the hit.

Fletchling tried to shake himself off and get ready for whatever was coming next. Luke was debating what he should do next. However, Froakie made the decision for him. He jumped out in front of Fletchling, taking his place in the battle.

“Wait, Froakie, no!” Luke called. “You can’t just go jumping into a battle.”

Fletchling, glad for the respite, didn’t seem to mind, and eagerly hopped over to Luke’s feet. He sighed and pulled out Fletchling’s pokeball. “Okay, yes, you deserve a break. You did good, though. But, you can’t let Froakie push you around either.” He looked up to Austin. “I’m really sorry about that. Froakie sometimes gets a little over eager.”

He really hoped that Austin did not assume he was trying to cheat. He seemed all smiles and appeared to not mind. “It’s alright. So, let’s call that one a win for me. Okay, Ziggy, use growl!”

Austin may have been okay with the sudden change in the roster, but the zigzagoon was none too thrilled, especially when he was the one winning. His growl was ferocious, and that seemed to dispel Froakie’s bravado.

“Use, bubble, Froakie!”

The zigzagoon’s attack did its job. Froakie’s usual stream of bubbles was a little weakened. He did not put as much effort behind it, still wary of his angry opponent. The bubbles still hit, but there just were not as many of them as Luke had hoped.

“Let’s finish this, Ziggy! Tackle attack!”

“Distract him with another bubble attack, Froakie!”

Now that he was on the defensive, Froakie put that much more power behind his attack. Ziggy was swarmed with a concentrated stream of bubbles. This stopped the pokemon in its tracks. When the dust, or rather bubbles, cleared, Ziggy was incapacitated.

“Aw, you beat me,” Austin said, grabbing Ziggy’s pokeball. “Good match, though. And hey, at least Ziggy’s squeaky clean.”

Luke laughed. “Yeah, and I’m glad you were cool with battling both of my pokemon.”

“It’s fun. Plus, if I want to get stronger, we need to face some tough battles. Thanks, and see ya around!”

Austin walked back towards Aquacorde Town. Luke turned back towards Froakie, tapping his foot with impatience. Froakie shrugged. “Fro…”

“No, we do need to talk,” Luke said. “You can’t just go jumping into a battle just because you decide you want to. I mean, I probably would have taken Fletchling out anyway, but that wasn’t your call.”  
“Froakie!”

“I know you want to win. And that’s great that you have that kind of enthusiasm. But, that doesn’t mean you have to take over for everyone else. How else is Fletchling going to learn to battle on his own?”

He seemed to relent at that. “Fro…kie.”

Luke knew the apology was forced, and there was a good chance he was going to do it again, but for now, it would have to do. “Alright. Well, let’s go see if we can catch up with Serena and Shauna.”

As it turned out, they were not all that far from the forest. Just at the edge of the trees, Luke could spy the two girls waiting for them. “Sorry I’m late, guys,” he said, jogging up to meet them. “I kinda got caught up in some stuff.”

Shauna nodded. “That’s okay. Serena and I had fun on our own. We found a few trainers to battle, and Serena caught a fletchling.”

Serena smiled, looking rather pleased with herself. “I figured it couldn’t hurt to have another teammate, especially one with different moves. I saw on our map that once we get out of the forest, we’ll be in Santalune City, which has a gym. I’ll be wanting to get my team ready for that battle. I did some reading on it. Viola, the gym leader, uses bug-type pokemon. So, a fletchling seemed like a good choice. They can learn some flying moves.”

“Neat! I caught a fletchling too,” Luke said. “That’s why I was kind of late meeting up with you guys. That, and I got into a battle.”

Serena nodded. “Great minds think alike, I guess.”

He looked to Shauna. She shook her head. “I didn’t really catch anything,” she said with a laugh. “Everything here was a little too fast. That’s okay. I’m sure I’ll find some new ones soon. Oh, thinking of types, we were just talking Luke, what is your favorite pokemon type?”

“That’s an easy one. Dark-types are my favorite.”

Shauna looked surprised. Serena, as always, seemed mildly amused. Not for the first time, Luke wondered if she ever really showed emotions. “Really?” Shauna asked. “I never would have guessed. Aren’t those types kind of…you know, dark?”

This seemed to get Luke fired up. His hands gestured wildly as he started to explain. “Yeah, kind of, but darkness is only the absence of light. It’s not always dark. It comes in shades. It sets a mood, and atmosphere! Dark is more than just about doom and gloom. It’s about setting a tone. Dark pokemon really can make a statement.”

Serena nodded with a smile. “Very impressive, Luke. I take it this comes from a personal place?”

Luke realized he was starting to ramble and backed down. “Oh, well, sort of. I was always interested in them, so I started reading a lot about them. I know they sometimes get a bad rap because they’re sometimes favorites of some bad guys, but I found trainers who like dark-types because of their expressive personalities. How can I say no to a pokemon who owns who they are?”

She nodded. “Well, that is as good an answer as any. I prefer psychic-types myself. They are known for good intuition and being very close with their trainers. I guess that comes with being able to sometimes read minds. I would like that. Bonding with your pokemon is probably one of the most important things trainers can do.”

Luke noticed that Serena seemed a little distant, and did he detect a hint of…sadness? He would have asked her if she was feeling alright, but she seemed to shake it off. “What about you Shauna? Luke showed up before you could answer.”

She was practically bouncing up and down. “That’s so easy! I love fairy-types!”

Now it was Luke’s turn to be surprised. “Fairy-types? I’ve never heard of those. What are they?”

The two of them looked at him curiously. “It was a big discovery a few months ago. Didn’t you read the newspapers? These scientists were studying the habits of clefairies, and they realized that the reason, or at least part of the reason they were so unique is because they were a different type of pokemon altogether. They named this new type after the clefairies and called it the fairy-type. Anyway, it was a big deal, and scientists everywhere started discovering that there were other pokemon that were actually fairy-types too.” Serena explained this all the best way she could, but her tone still came off to Luke that she thought he should have known.

“Oh,” was all he said. “So, what other pokemon did they discover were fairy-types?”

Shauna got excited about this part. She eagerly stepped in to explain. “Lots! Let’s see, there’s jigglypuff, snubbull, gardevoir, Marill, and…what else…”

She proceeded to list several pokemon, some of which Luke had never heard of. He figured those pokemon were unique only to Kalos. Still, he was impressed. A whole new type of pokemon? That would be hard to study for when it came to battles.

Meanwhile, the group had been walking a ways in Santalune forest before they heard a rustle behind them. Shauna jumped, pokeball in hand. “Do you think it’s a wild pokemon?” she said, ready to call her fennekin.

“It’s big, whatever it is,” Serena said.

Luke hesitated, but he could already see Froakie ready to go after what it was. He held his hand up. “No, Froakie. We don’t know what it is yet.”

All three nearly screamed when Tierno popped out from behind the bushes, Trevor following right behind. “Sorry to scare you guys,” he said. “We got a little sidetracked looking for berries. Well, you three made it. Our next stop is Santalune City.”

Trevor looked up at the sky, or what little he could see of it behind the trees. “It looks like it’s getting late,” he said. “We may need to camp here first before we think about doing that. The forest may not be big, but it’d be real late by the time we got out. We’d be better off well-rested. I’ll start getting some firewood.”

Luke, having somewhat recovered from the minor fright followed Trevor to help. By the time they got back, the rest of the group had already had everything else set up. Once they had the wood in place, Shauna’s fennekin helped start the fire. Meanwhile, Serena’s chespin and Froakie had taken to playing around in the loose leaves. “Okay, hard stuff’s done,” Tierno said. “Let’s see if we can whip something up for dinner.”

Luke smiled. “Stand aside,” he said with a bit more bravado than he had shown all day. “I got this.” A few hours later, he was rather proud of his work. “And that, my friends, is how you make a campfire fondue,” he said proudly, having finished preparing dessert.

“Wow!” Shauna said, dipping a berry in the chocolate sauce and tasting it. “This dinner has been amazing! Where’d you learn to cook like this?”

“Eh, just something I kind of picked up. Between my mom being busy with the racing circuits and my dad’s job at the pokeball factory, I kind of had to be the one to take charge with all the cooking.”

“Well, it’s terrific!” Tierno said. “You really ought to think about opening your own restaurant someday. I’d go.”

Serena spoke up. “You know, when we get to Lumiose City, you should really check out some of the nice restaurants they have there. I’m sure you would find some great chefs who could tell you more about that kind of work.”

Luke grinned and shrugged. “Maybe. I haven’t really thought about what I’d do after going on a journey.”

By the time it got dark, their fire had started to die down to a pile of embers. The rest of the group was getting tired. “I’m going to go to sleep,” Tierno said after a big yawn. “I want to be rested when we get to Santalune City.”

“Same here, if I’m going to be any good against the gym leader,” Serena said.

“You’re not worried about any wild pokemon?” Shauna asked.

Trevor shook his head. “Nah, most of the pokemon found in this forest are pretty docile. Plus, aside from a few bug-types, not many of them go venturing out at night.”

The trainers all began pulling out their sleeping bags. Shauna’s fennekin curled up on top of her feet and started to snooze almost immediately. Serena’s chespin cuddled close to her in her sleeping bag. Luke realized that both of them having fur meant that they were probably pretty warm to have near them. Froakie, on the other hand, came hopping over, dripping wet from having taken a dip in a nearby pond and slid into Luke’s sleeping bag with him. He shivered, but accepted that he was just going to have to be cold and wet for the night. He shook his head. “You really can be a bit of a big doof sometimes, Froakie, but you are my buddy. Goodnight.”

“Fro…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _So, mentioning some evil teams last time, let’s talk about the evil teams I have planned for this new region. Again, looking for volunteers with some ideas. PM me if you want to know more._
> 
> _Team Troy is for most of the story, considered the “bad guys” of the region. They rule most of the eastern part of the region and are known for having an incredible walled city/hideout. Team Troy is run by its leader, Priam, who actually isn’t all that bad of a guy. He just wants the petty fighting to stop, and he’s not sure why Team Mycenae is blaming them for so many crimes. Among the admins of this group are Hector, a brave and fierce trainer who does believe in Team Troy’s cause, and Aeneas, who is a little too gung-ho about the team and does actually enjoy stealing._
> 
> _Team Mycenae is the dominant team who asks the player for their help in catching Team Troy and preventing all their crimes. They also blame Team Troy for kidnapping the daughter of one of the leaders. Team Mycenae is run by two brothers: Agamemnon and Menelaus. Agamemnon is the more bull-headed of the two, but they’re equally brash and jump to conclusions. Admins for this team include Achilles, a prideful trainer who’s more bravado than bite, and Odysseus, probably the smartest one of the bunch._
> 
> _Hopefully, you can kind of see where I’m going with this, but I’m not going to reveal all my secrets just yet. You’re probably wondering why I’m even sharing them. Am I not worried about someone stealing my idea? While yes, it is incredibly rude to take someone’s OCs and such without permission, it’s fanfiction. It’s going to happen, whether we like it or not. So, I’m just going to be transparent with you guys and say go nuts and if you like my ideas, take ‘em and do your own thing with them. I will tell you that you’re going to want to stick around and see my version of it all._

**Author's Note:**

> _So, now for the special news that will go with this story. I’ll keep advertising it at the end of chapters, or at the very least, I’ll keep you updated on my progress._
> 
> _I’m creating a new region! I present to you the Silop region (which is “polis” spelled backwards), and it is based entirely on Ancient Greece. There are tons of great new pokemon, fun gym leaders, a storyline based on the Trojan War, and two new types! Still not sold, let me at least give you a teaser by showing you the new starters:_
> 
> _Pankid – a Grass-type pokemon based on a satyr. It will evolve into Goatyr, which is a full-grown satyr and is a Grass/Lyric (one of the new types) type._
> 
> _Nixlet – a Fire-type pokemon based on a phoenix. It will evolve into Ashster, a gorgeous phoenix and is a Fire/Flying type._
> 
> _Celophid – a Water-type pokemon based on the kraken. It will evolve into Krakopod, a giant kraken and is a Water/Poison type._
> 
> _I’ll share more details as I progress through this story. Anyway, what I’m looking for are a few volunteers who might be able to help me with the technical details. All the new pokemon are pretty much in place, the plot is complete, and all the major characters are in place. But, as I design the actual Pokedex for this new region, I do need a hand coming up with new moves (especially for the new Lyric and Celestial types) and later checking the Pokedex to see that it is finalized. Don’t worry, your efforts will be rewarded, but I’ll tell you guys what that entails later. If you’re interested in helping out, I'd prefer it if you tried reaching out to me on my Fanfiction account with a PM (ZadArchie is my ffnet name) or an email to my Writing(dot)com account (also Monstradamus). I don't want to discuss details like this over reviews here on AO3, but if that's all you've got, we'll work something out. Until then, I’ll see you in the next chapter of my Profile of a Champion series._


End file.
